Gershwin

Our friend and regular speaker Malcolm Lewis returned for our 13 November event to give a talk on George Gershwin. Born in 1898 in New York to Eastern European immigrant parents George Gershwin became one of America's most popular and famous composers. During his short lifetime (he died in 1937) he composed a range of music in both classical and popular genres. Along with his brother Ira he composed for hugely popular musicals such as Strike Up the Band, Girl Crazy and Funny Face which spawned numerous hit tunes, many of which were quickly adopted as jazz standards. His most famous works though are probably Rhapsody in Blue and the opera Porgy and Bess. Malcolm took us through Gershwin's tragically short life with plenty of musical illustrations, showing what a range of great music he composed. One highlight out of all of the great music was the solo piano performance of Rhapsody in Blue - many of us couldn't believe that it was just one pianist.